Review

There are three things that everyone should have done while nu metal was still at its peak: mosh to "Let The Bodies Hit The Floor" by Drowning Pool; break scenery to "Break Stuff" by Limp Bizkit; and sing along to "Last Resort" by Papa Roach. If you didn't do any of those three during the nu metal fad, chances are you successfully wasted your youth.

Papa Roach really broke onto the scene in the year 2000 with their multi-platinum record Infest, despite being formed way back in 1993. Ever since then though, the band has remained as one of the most commercially successful nu metal bands, ranking right up there aside Korn, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit. Sure, they did change their sound, morphing into a radio friendly hard rock band with their 2004 effort Getting Away With Murder, but their past can never be forgotten - mainly because it was also their pinnacle. Now, 17 years after the band’s formation, Geffen Records has finally decided to release a best of compilation album, and like any other mainstream compilation album, this one is as predictable and common as it gets.

That’s not to say it’s a bad album, musically. …To Be Loved: The Best of Papa Roach is a nice, if not overly exciting trip down the nostalgia road, even if some of the lyrics can make you cringe and the music sounds way too simplistic. It brings back (well it would, if you’d actually buy this) memories and reminds us how easy and merry life was back then (well, for the younger generation, that is). And what’s not to love about a little nostalgia? Sadly, it must be noted that this compilation isn't even worth purchasing for nostalgic values.

Obviously this album only contains some of the band’s biggest hit songs, and looks like it was composed by the laziest person in the whole staff of Geffen Records, but it seemingly gets the job done – it tries to give a more or less solid overview of the band’s career since the time they broke into the mainstream (unsurprisingly, there is nothing from the records released pre-Infest). Take note though, as the emphasis is on "seemingly". There is one major flaw here that can not be ignored and must be addressed: why has Geffen Records left out every single heavier song the band ever made? That is where they seriously ***ed up, exhibiting their complete incompetence to even contrive a good best-of compilation. I guess it’s somewhat understandable when you don't put non-singles to a best-of album, but to leave out anthemic hits like "Between Angels And Insects" is blasphemous. Even sadder is to see what Geffen has replaced these possible heavier entrances (think: "Dead Cell", "Infest" or " Singular Indestructible Droid") with: sappy acoustic versions of already slow songs and a previously unreleased cut, called "Just Go (Never look Back)", that is, to no one’s dismay, completely mediocre. …To Be Loved: The Best of Papa Roach makes it seem like Papa Roach have always been a radio friendly hard rock band, which is false.

In the end, it’s only equitable to call …To Be Loved: The Best of Papa Roach a failed compilation. While it does try to more or less give the listener a taste of what the band sounds like now, at the same time, it completely fails to demonstrate the heavier side of them. If one is to listen to this compilation here, without having any prior knowledge about the band, he will most certainly think Papa Roach have always been a radio friendly rock group. They do carry that role now, and most likely will carry it until the day they break up, but people deserve to know the band did have a more aggressive, heavier past. If we add to that the rumors about the band not making any money off of this release, it becomes more and more evident that this is just a shameless cash crab by Geffen Records in order to generate some money from the ones well-fared in radio rock. Poor show, I say. Cut my life into pieces, this is my last sentence.

Thanks guys. Yeah I was a fan of these guys back then, and I still check out their new stuff if they release any, but this was just an utterly pointless release. At least you can't fault the band - it was all Geffen

EDIT: also, last sentence was Scream!'s idea. It was apparently so awesome that I actually used it haha

I'm with you, these guys were easily my favorite band when I was younger. I deleted a bunch of their stuff I don't really listen to from my itunes today (mainly Metamorphosis) and a little piece of my childhood died. I won't bother with this though.

Rom - yeah Metamorphosis was pretty bad too, although there were some cool songs ("State of Emergency"; "Into The Light"). I still occasionally pop in Infest or GAWM. Some heavier cuts from Lovehatetragedy are nice too.

Shadow - what's interesting is that this is my first under a 2.5 review

Thanks for all the positive comments guys and yea Connor, I've done all that too, hence the introduction haha. Papa Roach for me now is a guilty pleasure, but I did seriously rock out to these guys earlier in my life.